On the Minnesota Test for Diffferential Diagnosis of Aphasia, a test used to measure language skills after a stroke or brain injury, one of the questions elicits a short language sample: Name 3 things a good citizen should do. The best response I ever received was, “Vote, pay taxes and delight your wife.”

Gene M. was one of my first “official” patients after I completed my speech therapy training in 1986.  He was receiving treatment for liver cancer but a stroke unexpectedly added to a growing  list of health problems. Even though he died 23 years ago,he remains one of my favorite patients of all time. When I met him, I was captured by his personal energy, and among other attributes, his incredible grasp of the 3 pillars of conscietious  living: vote, pay taxes and delight your wife.Here is what I learned from Gene about each one of these:

Vote: We all had the privilege of voting for a new president this past November. Gene thought it was “crazy” to pass up the opportunity to be heard. Likewise, he felt it was important to support whoever was in office regardless of personal political leanings. He knew the names of all of the presidents and he never scoffed in disrespect about any of them. His personal favorite was Abraham Lincoln and by the time we finished our therapy relationship, I had read 3 large books about Lincoln all from Gene’s personal “presidential library.”  He had a reverence for the Office of President that would be considered absurdly out of style by today’s standards. While our new president, Barrack Obama is enjoying considerable popularity now, I would not be the least bit surprised if some faction seeks to discredit him before too long. In fact, if I may borrow one of my late grandmother’s famous sayings, “Why if (Gene) were alive today, he would be turning over in his grave” if he knew that all Presidents these days eventually end up in some sort of scandal, real or made-up. (more…)

There is  a stereotype of a therapist, psychologist, or maybe even a life coach that conjurs up the image of a long-winded, “I Feel Your Pain”, pseudo-empathic character.  Or perhaps it feels less “confrontational” to be oblique rather than blunt.  Well, there has been a time or two when I have been caught using psychology fluffy-speak…..

So my girlfriend and I were driving from Michigan to Arizona where I was about to take my first job out of graduate school.  Our second overnight stop was in Shamrock, Texas, a dusty little town on the Texas panhandle. After a long day of travel, we collapsed into bed; it had been a grueling day. However, just as I was drifiting off to sleep, my friend hissed, “Ann, something just crawled across my foot!” to which I replied, ” Go to sleep. You’re nuts.” But she persisted, “No I am serious!” We went back and forth several times with her insisting that something was in her bed and me dispelling any possibility of it. Rather than get out of bed and check her story, I finally replied, “Martha, I believe that you believe that something is in your bed….”   Well, that made her rear up in bed and exclaim, “STOP THAT PSYCHOLOGY CRAP WITH ME!!!  SOMETHING IS IN MY BED!”  ….. (At the end, I will tell you whether something was in her bed or not…) (more…)

It is not merely a cliche’ that one must look for the rainbow after a rainstorm.

Once upon a time, a perfect little smooth fox terrier puppy was born in California. Her spectacular face was half-black and half-white; even one eye had black eye lashes and the other had white ones. She was  lucky puppy who got  to fly first-class to her new digs in Minnesota (a family friend brought her home with him after a business trip).  “What a gorgeous, perfect puppy”, everyone on the plane remarked.

Piccadilly was a smart, spunky, and agile dog. She quickly learned tricks such as jumping through a hoop, playing dead, and rolling over. She could leap from chair to chair as easily as a squirrel jumps from tree branch to tree branch.  Her family said, “She is so smart, clever and athletic that we should make her a circus puppy. Maybe she could perform at half-time at an NBA basketball game someday!” Her family had seen other dogs perform at half-time at the Target Center so they had big plans to take her to agility school so she could learn all of those nifty maneuvers.

Then one day, something terrible happened to this perfect fox terrier. It started out as pain in her right paw. Within 12 hours, it had progressed into full paralysis on the right side of her body. Piccadilly was suffering from a spinal cord stroke (an FCE, to be exact). This once nearly perfect show quality dog laid on her side, panting and unable to get up.  Her doctors said she would probably never be the same and they warned that her course of rehabilitation would be extensive. Was she worth keeping or was it best to just let her go? (more…)